Holyfield a man of his word

Fighter is back in CC, 21 years later

The four-time WBA world heavyweight champion is finally fulfilling
his promise.

Nearly 21 years after his last fight in Corpus Christi, Holyfield
(40-8-2, 26 knockouts) has returned to town as he continues his quest
for a fifth title. The 44-year old steps back into the ring for the
third time since a two-year layoff Saturday night against Vinny
Maddalone (27-3, 19 KOs) at the American Bank Center.

"I'm honored to be back pretty much where I started my career," said
Holyfield, who fought in Corpus Christi first in 1985 and again in
1986. "Many people don't get to say they had the opportunity to see the
only four-time heavyweight champ of the world. I just want to give back
to the people who supported me before I even had a name. Corpus Christi
is one of the cities that gave me that support."

A bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics, Holyfield made his first
appearance in Corpus Christi the following year against Mark Rivera.
Holyfield's fourth professional fight lasted less than two rounds after
Rivera took two standing 8-counts before it ended after a third knock
down.

In 1986, Holyfield improved to 10-0 by knocking out Jesse Shelby in
the third round of an undercard bout at Memorial Coliseum. His career
took off two fights later when he earned a split decision over Dwight
Qawi to win the WBA cruiserweight championship.

Holyfield captured the WBC and IBF cruiserweight titles before
moving up to the heavyweight ranks. Also a three-time IBF and two-time
WBC heavyweight champion, Holyfield is 16-5-2 in 23 world title
bouts.

A unanimous decision loss to Chris Byrd in 2002 for the vacant IBF
heavyweight championship sent Holyfield on a downward spiral. Two more
losses, to James Toney by technical knockout in 2003 and to Larry
Donald by unanimous decision in 2004 for the vacant NABC heavyweight
title, threatened to end Holfyfield's career.

However, trainer Ronnie Shields didn't think it was time to call it
quits.

"Nobody knew about the surgeries," Shields said. "He had two
surgeries on his left shoulder and one on his right. He lost three
fights in a row and everybody was telling him he was done. After the
Larry Donald fight we decided to let the shoulders heal and slowly work
our way back into it. It took us two years, but now here we are."

That's back in Corpus Christi and headed toward another world
championship, something Holyfield takes seriously.

"Some time this year I'll be fighting for a title," he said. "In
2008 I should be the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world."